I've been a huge fan of Ghastria and Stezen D'Polarno since its 1991 debut. I wrote "The Unauthorized Biography of the Marquis Stezen D'Polarno" for the Book of Souls, a Ravenloft fanzine, fleshing out the domain in new directions. I ran a campaign where the PCs were caught in intrigue between the Marquis and Ivan and Ivana of Borca. Seeing Ghastria get use is always so refreshing!
17:40 "No mask? No mask!" I didnt expect to have so much "the king in yellow" references in a ghastria adventure but I really liked what you did with it
I love this one! I struggle with giving player appropriate clues to suggest how they can proceed in an adventure, so I like seeing how naturally guided this feels, like you're not telling the players where to go directly (and you're not abusing NPC guidance either) but what you put in front of them will lead them to the right conclusions. I thought about d'Polarno also telling the players that even when they died sustaining him they would be immortalized in his paintings but now I'm thinking even this little would go against the ethos of a total hedonist who loves evil art for the sake of evil artiness?
2 other works of inspirational media if you want to describe these paintings as creepily and surreal as possible is the 1977 film Eraserhead, and the game The Tender Cut. Both are Black and White works filled with trippy visuals and macabre stories buried within them.
One thing i like about this Ravenloft seeies is you never know what the next vid will be. We could get Dr. Bowers' new take on the iconic Barovia, a cauldron-brewed unique domain outide of VRGtR or one on concepts that tick all the boxes they might as well be Domains of Dread e.g. Darkest Dungeon or Heckna or Crooked Moon. Also i love the theme of adding art to horror... such as the unusual horror movie Velvet Buzzsaw
Another great video. For another source of insperation especially for being in the art is the Witcher 3 Heart of Stone, the whole main plot here fits perfectly for Ghastria, but there are elements that are in paintings and it gives this really cool feel to things. The old ravenloft had Ghastria part of the core in the Sea of Sorrows. Where the curse extended to his island. All the food and drink in Ghastria is utterly bland and flavorless. not unhealthy just dull, which makes it valuable exports to the core. including this wouldn't be that difficult. Just have the PCs on a ship that is headed to Ghastria. then have the PCs step into an Inn, I would go with the The Gold Wolf. Have the PCs meet the Marquis before hand and spend some time in town before they go to bed and then follow the rest of the adventure as written. Depending on if I want ghastria to remain or not, I would either follow as you said for the adventure. Or I would have the PCs in act 3 destroy their own paintings and free themselves of the curse but they then need to flee back to the boat, who is ready to leave and hopefully without causing any suspicion or shenniganary as remember the food does need to be brought back to the other nation where they sailed forth from, and in a way to not jepordize trade relations.
To add to the imaginative grip for this adventure i might suggest the video game Layers of Fear, particularly for the blending of reality and the sense you are trapped in a painting.
you:"i'm not sure if i'd hang it up in my own house" me:Oh i SO would! You: but i feel like a few of my viewers might have just seen their new favorite painting instantly called out. I was not expecting this to release during the middle of my night shift job while i'm doing campaign prep for my domains of dread campaign, but I'm delighted to be here right on time. I love these types of themes and these types of characters. having completed the video now i can say i very very much want to run this! this is one of ma favorite adventures you've made videos on yet. i might adapt this to fit into the timeline of my campaign, though i'm not sure where...
@@alexneckoyami thank you so much! I’m delighted to hear this might be a candidate for your Domain-hopping campaign? How is that going, and where have your PCs been? (I must confess that, despite my love for all creatures of the night, I am supposed to be a day-dweller…!)
@@phdnd-drbowers i'm still in planning stages actually, it's going to start next month ish. the outline so far is prime material stuff 1-2 or 3 to introduce some world and consequences since this is post a prior curse of strahd campaign that ran to 15, then modified house of lament to 3 or 4 to set the tone and mists and smaller scale horrors/ideas. i hadn't really solidified where after that specifically, more general campaign outline (1-20, big scope, giving them an amount of sandbox in there)
Idea: If the Heroes do become Darklord, maybe break the news thus: The heroes escape, into the Mist, only to return to Ghastria, where they are praised by locals, as the rulers, d'Polarno seemingly forgotten
Cool Adventure! This is a very good D&D-izing of a Dorien Grey style story. Dorian Grey makes a great hook but there's no much "rolling initiative" in that story as is. As a potential movie source, can I suggest the 1964 "Masque of the Red Death" with Vincent Price? It's not the same period as this source material, but you could do for worse inspirations for a coldly jovial hedonist, plus Vincent Price. I actually have this theory that Ivan Dilysnia was inspired by combining Vincent Price in this movie with Vincent Price in "Fall of the House of Usher."
I've been a huge fan of Ghastria and Stezen D'Polarno since its 1991 debut. I wrote "The Unauthorized Biography of the Marquis Stezen D'Polarno" for the Book of Souls, a Ravenloft fanzine, fleshing out the domain in new directions. I ran a campaign where the PCs were caught in intrigue between the Marquis and Ivan and Ivana of Borca. Seeing Ghastria get use is always so refreshing!
17:40 "No mask? No mask!" I didnt expect to have so much "the king in yellow" references in a ghastria adventure but I really liked what you did with it
I love this one! I struggle with giving player appropriate clues to suggest how they can proceed in an adventure, so I like seeing how naturally guided this feels, like you're not telling the players where to go directly (and you're not abusing NPC guidance either) but what you put in front of them will lead them to the right conclusions.
I thought about d'Polarno also telling the players that even when they died sustaining him they would be immortalized in his paintings but now I'm thinking even this little would go against the ethos of a total hedonist who loves evil art for the sake of evil artiness?
2 other works of inspirational media if you want to describe these paintings as creepily and surreal as possible is the 1977 film Eraserhead, and the game The Tender Cut. Both are Black and White works filled with trippy visuals and macabre stories buried within them.
One thing i like about this Ravenloft seeies is you never know what the next vid will be. We could get Dr. Bowers' new take on the iconic Barovia, a cauldron-brewed unique domain outide of VRGtR or one on concepts that tick all the boxes they might as well be Domains of Dread e.g. Darkest Dungeon or Heckna or Crooked Moon.
Also i love the theme of adding art to horror... such as the unusual horror movie Velvet Buzzsaw
Another great video. For another source of insperation especially for being in the art is the Witcher 3 Heart of Stone, the whole main plot here fits perfectly for Ghastria, but there are elements that are in paintings and it gives this really cool feel to things.
The old ravenloft had Ghastria part of the core in the Sea of Sorrows. Where the curse extended to his island. All the food and drink in Ghastria is utterly bland and flavorless. not unhealthy just dull, which makes it valuable exports to the core. including this wouldn't be that difficult. Just have the PCs on a ship that is headed to Ghastria. then have the PCs step into an Inn, I would go with the The Gold Wolf. Have the PCs meet the Marquis before hand and spend some time in town before they go to bed and then follow the rest of the adventure as written.
Depending on if I want ghastria to remain or not, I would either follow as you said for the adventure. Or I would have the PCs in act 3 destroy their own paintings and free themselves of the curse but they then need to flee back to the boat, who is ready to leave and hopefully without causing any suspicion or shenniganary as remember the food does need to be brought back to the other nation where they sailed forth from, and in a way to not jepordize trade relations.
To add to the imaginative grip for this adventure i might suggest the video game Layers of Fear, particularly for the blending of reality and the sense you are trapped in a painting.
@@isaacalien Protip: Maybe avoid trying the Kid-Running-at-a-Wall Scare
you:"i'm not sure if i'd hang it up in my own house"
me:Oh i SO would!
You: but i feel like a few of my viewers might have just seen their new favorite painting
instantly called out. I was not expecting this to release during the middle of my night shift job while i'm doing campaign prep for my domains of dread campaign, but I'm delighted to be here right on time. I love these types of themes and these types of characters.
having completed the video now i can say i very very much want to run this! this is one of ma favorite adventures you've made videos on yet. i might adapt this to fit into the timeline of my campaign, though i'm not sure where...
@@alexneckoyami thank you so much! I’m delighted to hear this might be a candidate for your Domain-hopping campaign? How is that going, and where have your PCs been? (I must confess that, despite my love for all creatures of the night, I am supposed to be a day-dweller…!)
@@phdnd-drbowers i'm still in planning stages actually, it's going to start next month ish. the outline so far is prime material stuff 1-2 or 3 to introduce some world and consequences since this is post a prior curse of strahd campaign that ran to 15, then modified house of lament to 3 or 4 to set the tone and mists and smaller scale horrors/ideas. i hadn't really solidified where after that specifically, more general campaign outline (1-20, big scope, giving them an amount of sandbox in there)
Idea: If the Heroes do become Darklord, maybe break the news thus:
The heroes escape, into the Mist, only to return to Ghastria, where they are praised by locals, as the rulers, d'Polarno seemingly forgotten
Another great video! Are you going to do a Halloween themed Domain of Dread or go Old School and do Barovia?
Either way it'll be a fin vid to watch.
Just to be pedantic, you seem to conflate John the Baptist with John the Evangelist. The first is Jesus's cousin, the second is the "Beloved Disciple"
Cool Adventure! This is a very good D&D-izing of a Dorien Grey style story. Dorian Grey makes a great hook but there's no much "rolling initiative" in that story as is. As a potential movie source, can I suggest the 1964 "Masque of the Red Death" with Vincent Price? It's not the same period as this source material, but you could do for worse inspirations for a coldly jovial hedonist, plus Vincent Price. I actually have this theory that Ivan Dilysnia was inspired by combining Vincent Price in this movie with Vincent Price in "Fall of the House of Usher."